Abstract
This study analyzes and compares the experiences and choices of parents with children with Down Syndrome in the United States and Denmark. I am studying how these experiences and choices are formed by societal norms and professional opinions and how this has led to a rise in eugenics against individuals with Down Syndrome. I use Foucault’s and Agamben’s theories of biopolitics and biopower, Agamben’s theory of bare life, Canguilhem’s theory of normal to pathological, and Gilman’s theory of feminist eugenics to explain how eugenics has come back into acceptance in the form of Newgenics. To do this, I conducted six interviews with parents in the United States and used previous research on mothers in Denmark as a comparison. I found that mothers in the United States and Denmark are faced with negative and stressful experiences caused by societal norms and professional opinions, and this has worked together to make Newgenics not only possible but acceptable. It is important to reflect on how societal norms, pressures, and opinions shape not only other people’s decisions but also liberate movements such as Newgenics that put entire populations at risk.
Advisor
Tierney, Tom
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Ganson, Lauren, "“Newgenics”: A Comparison Study of Parents of Children with Down Syndrome in Denmark and The United States" (2023). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 10482.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/10482
Disciplines
Sociology
Publication Date
2023
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2023 Lauren Ganson